Hotel Saxonburg owner Judy Ferree

The coronavirus pandemic has forced a new wave of people into the hunt for jobs while some employers are scrambling to hire workers.

Judy Ferree, owner at Hotel Saxonburg, said she placed an advertisement in the newspaper because she wasn't sure if all of her employees would return.

Since then, she received two phone calls from people looking into the jobs she has available, which includes servers and bartenders. But it was her staff who she had to let go through the pandemic who really impressed her with almost everyone returning.

“I wasn't really sure what was going to happen,” Ferree said. “The people who I have that worked here, they all really wanted to come back.”

Ferree said a lot of people are benefitting from the extra $600 per week that has been added to unemployment benefits through the pandemic.

“(My employees) would all rather be here, and they're making less money working,” Ferree said. “I felt pretty good about that actually.”

According to weekly reports by the U.S. Department of Labor, Pennsylvania reached a peak unemployment rate of 21.21 percent during the week that ended April 25. The department's figures for the week ending May 30 showed an unemployment rate of 14.56 percent.

According to the Office of Unemployment Compensation, an unofficial estimate of 2,132,891 unemployment claims have been made since the week ending March 21.

Other employers are looking to add positions due to COVID-19 needs for higher sanitation.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Wednesday's Green Edition of the Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article and other articles about businesses opening up.